Questions are invited from Elected Members about items on the Cabinet agenda. 15 minutes will be set aside for Member Question Time, if required.
Notice of any Member question must be given to the Monitoring Officer by midday on Friday, 4 March 2022.
Minutes:
The following question was submitted in advance of the meeting by Councillor Russell Bernstein:
How will the people of Bury know that the Community Safety Plan is being delivered?
Responding, Councillor Richard Gold reported that for each of the priorities within the Community Safety Plan there is a delivery lead who is a senior officer within the relevant partnership organisation. Each lead will produce frequent delivery reports against the plan, using data from the strategic assessment and updates on key activity. These updates will be presented to the Community Safety Partnership Board co-chaired by Chief Superintendent Chris Hill and the Council’s Deputy Chief Exec Lynne Ridsdale on a quarterly basis. Information from these updates will be summarised in a six monthly review to Overview and Scrutiny to supplement the more detailed Annual Performance Plan. In addition the Community Safety Partnership has committed to more regular engagement with residents through our Community Hubs by sharing crime and disorder data at more granular level to allow for meaningful feedback and joint working.
A further supplementary question was submitted:
There was some discussion at Overview and Scrutiny Committee around the availability of hard data – will this be more available moving forwards?
Councillor Gold reported that the hard data is received every week but up until now was only allowed to be used internally. Subsequent to a meeting earlier today with the Chief Superintendent, data for residents is now allowed. Format of this was still being developed, but this would be available from around April and would be under the six priority areas identified in the Community Safety Plan being available by Ward. It was noted that narrative context would be provided when ‘blips’ skewed or distorted data, and hopefully this would offer reassurance to residents, calming the sense that crime was out of control and also allowing intervention of real hotspots.
The following question was submitted in advance of the meeting by Councillor Jackie Harris:
Whitefield has been selected as the area of focus for the High Street task force with a visit due to take place in January 2023. What will the Council do over the next 9 months in engaging with Whitefield businesses ahead of the visit?
Responding, Councillor Eamonn O’Brien reported that the Council has selected Whitefield as it has unique set of circumstances and want to focus on the high street. The Council were not in charge of when the visit took place, but the 9 month lead in would give us time to begin devising and implementing a programme of engagement to ensure that existing businesses in Whitefield are fully conversed on the High Street Task Force agenda, identify what support and range of benefits will be on offer for local transformation work, identify complementary work around this, and inviting the businesses to be part of the project as key stakeholders.
The Council are currently working with businesses and the Whitefield Town Centre Business Group. The Council will continue to meet with this emerging group with a view to gaining their support for the visit and subsequent project, as well as discussing what the opportunities are for the town and how the above can help to support the developing objectives and ongoing activity. The community hub will be utilised in engagement, bringing together all the various users of the high street.
A further supplementary question was submitted:
Can we have updates as things progress? This is an ambitious programme and could provide a useful model for future developments.
Councillor O’Brien reported that yes, something could be brought back to Cabinet or another meeting later this year.
The following question was submitted in advance of the meeting by Councillor Roger Brown:
As part of the Homeless strategy, how will the Council work closely with partners such as Bury CCG over the next year?
Responding, Councillor Clare Cummins reported that the leadership and development of Partnership working to prevent homelessness is one of the seven principles of the proposed Bury homeless strategy.
This principle of the strategy sets out how the council will seek to proactively lead the homeless partnership to apply the borough-wide LET’S principles to its work (This means taking a Local and Enterprising approach which is delivered Together in a Strengths-based way). For example:
- Establishing proactive neighbour-hood based teams who work together on case work, to ensure multi agency support to complex lives and the prevention of and early intervention in issues that could result in homelessness
- Supporting the development of new housing supply, particularly affordable housing, to ensure there is enough supply to avert homelessness
- collaboration across the council, wider public service, community sector, private and social landlords and the co-design of ongoing policy work with people with lived experience and
- taking a person-centred approach to supporting people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so. This is about doing ‘with’ not ‘to’ through a “Keyworker” approach which empowers the client with the skills to lead an independent life within the community .
Bury CCG is a member of the homeless partnership. Its role, together with all other partners, is clearly articulated within a delivery work plan for the next three years and includes mental health, substance misuse and developing new and existing pathways for the homeless community into health care.
A further supplementary question was submitted:
I understand some rough sleepers do not want to go into Council homes, is there a more informal route to help them?
Councillor Cummins reported that the Council reached out to entrenched rough sleepers during the Covid pandemic though the ‘everyone in’ initiative and encouraged them to reach out to the variety of existing services, and the CCG reached out to the homeless population to invite them for vaccinations. She assured Members that Bury Council was doing their utmost to help people in the borough and ensure services were in place and helping people. She advised everyone to speak to rough sleepers they see and advise them on the contact details of the homelessness team at Bury Council.
The following question was submitted in advance of the meeting by Councillor Luis McBriar:
The Cabinet report on the Youth Zone states, “The Council will seek part of these costs from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Youth Investment Fund”. What engagement has the Council had with the department to date and what are the parameters for the Council to qualify for the above-mentioned fund?
Responding, Councillor Eamonn O’Brien reported that DCMS used a set of metrics to define which Local Authorities would be invited to bid for YIF grants. Bury was not included in the list. We have made a request via our partners Onside and Youth Focus NW that an application for Bury Youth Zone nevertheless be considered.
The parameters for the Council to qualify for the fund are as DCMS formula using:
· an index of Income Deprivation Affecting Children;
· Children and Young people Not in Education, Employment and Training (NEET); and
· Data on the supply of statutory youth provision by local authorities.
OnSide are supportive of this approach, subject to the outcome of the proposed Viability Study and confirmation of site at September’s Cabinet meeting. This ties in with the draft timetable of an announcement in Sept/Oct from DCMS about which are the successful bids. I will ensure that James Daly MP is asked to raise this with DCMS.
A further supplementary question was submitted:
With regards to the sites identified, has there been or will there be any consultation across the borough?
Councillor O’Brien reported that we are in the early days of looking at a viability study, and that relevant stakeholders would be involved.
The following question was submitted in advance of the meeting by Councillor Jack Rydeheard:
What opportunities does the Council believe there are in Shared Services for Bury MBC and how will this deliver value for money for the Bury taxpayer?
Responding, Councillor Eamonn O’Brien reported that there were opportunities for shared services, but the practical realities were always trickier in practice. We can be comforted that Bury’s record of collaboration is quite strong, with an increasing degree of collaboration across Greater Manchester, and also with the CCG. Although not a panacea, there were prospects to go further. Opportunities existed across the Council and through the Transformation Programme we are looking at how we can share services better.
A number of services, both corporate and operational could be undertaken as a shared service but smaller services would also benefit from the resilience a shared service approach would bring. As part of the transformation programme and areas to be explored in order to put forward potential ideas to close the Councils 2023/24 financial gaps a number of areas for consideration are being explored across the Council.
A further supplementary question was submitted:
Do you have any idea of where services can be shared to achieve real savings?
Councillor O’Brien reported that some efficiencies were about savings and some were about improving workforce development and resiliency, for example recruitment and attracting key skills. Some of the bigger areas we can drive down costs include children’s services, whether shared services or collaboration, achieving better value for money and better outcomes by keep services in the public sector. He advised that, as we come forward with the transformation programme, there will be prospects that come forward for scrutiny and further engagement.
The following question was submitted in advance of the meeting by Councillor Jo Lancaster:
On 17th November 2021 Cabinet meeting I asked ‘What plan does Cllr. Tariq have regarding the public consultation for secondary school catchment areas’ Cllr Tariq advised ‘The timetable for that consultation will be established in the coming weeks. Consultation is likely to take place in early 2022, with the intention of implementing any changes for the academic year commencing September 2023. Councillor Tariq added that the last review was in 1980, and the borough had significantly changed since then. Every year parents rightly challenge why they are in the catchment area they are, and it was hoped that through this process issues could be discussed, debated and a solution identified to fit the borough for the 21st century. Why has the consultation still not taken place?
Responding, Councillor Tamoor Tariq reported that all admission authorities have a statutory duty to act in accordance with the relevant provisions of The School Admission Code 2021, issued under Section 84 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. The Code imposes mandatory requirements and provides guidelines setting out aims, objectives and other matters in relation to the discharge of functions relating to admissions by all maintained bodies. Academies are required by their funding agreements to comply with the Code and the law relating to admissions.
In accordance with the School Admissions Code, when changes are proposed to admission arrangements all admission authorities must consult on their admission arrangements that will apply for admission applications the following school year. Consultation must last for a minimum of 6 weeks and must take place between 1 October and 31 January in the determination year. All admission authorities must determine admission arrangements by 28 February for entry in September the following calendar year.
The LA has reviewed its current admission arrangements and proposes to consult on changes to those arrangements for Community secondary schools. It is proposed that consultation will be from October to December 2022, with a report to Cabinet early 2023 regarding the determination of admission arrangements for September 2024. This is the earliest opportunity to implement changes to admission arrangements and will align with the opening of the new secondary school in Radcliffe. Whilst the formal consultation cannot commence prior to October 2022, the LA can provide advance publicity so that parents and other stakeholders are aware of the intentions to make changes to current arrangements.
A further supplementary question was submitted:
What assurances do we have that this will take place?
Councillor Tariq reported that his previous advice was based on what he knew at the time but now the legal situation has been researched this was the timeframe. He advised that he was very familiar with the issues in admission arrangements and the problems caused for families. He agreed the current arrangements were not fit for purpose and assured Members we would be moving forwards with the timelines identified.